The rental market must’ve started applying Icy Hot, because it’s seeing some relief

Good news, prospective renters: after rising more than 25% between January 2021 and August 2022, apartment prices have been dropping like an icicle held by a little kid with glass fingers.

Over the past six months through January, apartment rents have fallen in every major metropolitan area in America, while the US median rent decreased by $48 to reach $1,338, per new data from listing website Apartment List. It was the first time in five years that rent fell every month over a six-month period, per the same estimates.

And similar to your rock climbing cousin with a camper van, this drop hasn’t been isolated to a specific area. Since August, Seattle rents have dropped 8%, while new-lease rents in Boston and Las Vegas have fallen by 6%. None of the 52 largest metro areas tracked by the company saw positive rent growth over the period.

🏗👀 Looking ahead… While no one really knows where rents will go in 2023 – up, down, sideways, disappear entirely (🤞), etc. – many forecasts expect prices to increase, but at a much slower rate than over the past two years.

One thing helping that case? Nearly half a million new apartments will be available to rent this year – or the biggest delivery of new supply since 1986. And January data indicates this new supply may already be having an impact, the WSJ reports.